The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-06-25
CATCHING UP.


We look out of the window on day in
April, and see the air thick with snow.
The ground is white, and the bushes and
hedges are hung with the snowy fleece,
The swelling buds on the trees catch it
as it falls, and are feathered over as
though it were mid winter. And we say
What late seasonl Why, last year, the
horse-chestnuts were in bloom at such and
such date" Then the sun comes out,
and the snow vanishee, one hardly knows
how or where; and, when the last years
date comes round, lol the horse-chestnuts
are in blossom. 1t would take careful
observer to show how vegetation varies
from year to year, il he makes his obser-
vations the fret of June. Someway,
things manage to catch up, if they have
been tagging behind; and, through the
summer months, they go trooping hand in
hand. The wild rose and the fox grape
never forget to fill the air with beauty
and fragrance at the same time; and the
hay-maker in the wet meadows may year
by year cheer his eyes with the sight of
the brilliant cardinal flower, as he rests a
moment to whet his scythe. The rud-
beckia always blossoms just in season to
have its head docked by the mowing-ma-
chine, and the clethra throws up it's
scented spires in time for the summer
saunterer by the seaside.
We observe this equalization in other
ways. The children of one family may
differ in early development, one reading
at three, and another at six; but, by ten or
twelve they are usually about on level
So it is not worth while to boast much over
the precocity Of the baby genius. or to be
alarmed lest the slow. growing mind
should prove an imbecile. BY the age
Of twenty-five or thirty. the two may
have changed places, and the mental
hare may be- hopelessly behind the steady
going tortoise. II it were not for this
method OF nature in helping on the lag
CARDS and holding back the racers, SO
that there shall be an even start at vari-
GUS intervals, we should see vastly more
phenomenal results in every department.
of creation. AS it is, the uniformity is
restful, whether it be the uniformity of
the forest, where few trees overtop their
fellows, or the forest of the world, where
human nature is pretty much the same
under varying conditions.
There is such thing also as catching
up in the affections. The young mother
folds her baby to her breast, loving and
shielding it, and asking no return save
the instructive clinging that time only
can develop into love. Ten, fifteen, per-
haps twenty years go by, and suddenly
the mother awakes to the fact that her son
has caught up with her in love; that they
are no longer mother and child alone, but
friends and companions as we'll. Com
mand and obedience give place to mutual
consultation and regard. Instead OF
leading the little lad, the mother is lean
ing on the strong man.
Is it not something akin to this that
gives us, as we grow older, feeling of
nearness TO the Father of all? The awe,
the timid fear of the Great Unknown, the
obedience given because required, the
form of service rather than the heart OF
praise, these not fade away as we
come better to know and love him whose
name is Love? Not that we may ever
perhaps merge filial love in the feeling OF
loving comradeship, as between earthly
parents and children; but there may
come this sense of fellowship that may
lead one, in humble imitation OF the Nsz-
arene, to say, Il and my Father are one,"
one in sympathy, in love- Christian
Register.